


Last Hoorah

by Quilly



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU in which they live long enough to face Equalist mecha tanks, F/M, Implied Character Death, very sad seriously what the heck is wrong with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quilly/pseuds/Quilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They aren't gonna make it out of this one.</p>
<p>(Day Five of Quilly's February OTP Extravaganza. For ThePhoebster)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last Hoorah

**Author's Note:**

> WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. Um. Anyway. Enjoy, I guess! (In case you didn't catch it in the tags: this is an AU where Toph and Sokka live long enough to face Equalist mecha tanks. They aren't as sharp as they used to be.)

“How’re you holding up, Chief?” Sokka wheezed, crouching next to his friend behind the rock wall she’d thrown up at the last second. Her nigh-arthritic hands were pressed flat against the wall, and while Sokka’s vision wasn’t so good anymore he still knew he could trust those hands beyond a shadow of a doubt.

 

“I’ve had better days,” she chuckled, hissing as her badly-bandaged wound seared again with pain. “There’s still about four mecha tanks, right?”

 

“Five,” Sokka corrected, then cursed. “Make that six. Wall!”

 

Toph acted quickly, collapsing the wall and molding it around her and Sokka in a mound of earth. All was dark, but the sounds of the mecha tanks’ electronic prongs hitting against and chipping away the dome was loud, echoing in Sokka’s ears.

 

“Never thought it would end quite like this,” Toph coughed, and a fleck of something warm spattered against Sokka’s cheek. He didn’t want to know what it was. “Always figured it would be a little more peaceful, after the comet.”

 

“Ain’t that the way it goes,” Sokka said, with a hint of a giggle that edged on hysterical. “Toph…for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here with me.”

 

Toph didn’t say anything, but her hand snaked around his and clenched tight.

 

The hammering grew more insistent, until little cracks of flickering light were visible in chinks between the rocks. Sokka squeezed Toph’s hand once and kissed her lined forehead.

 

“Let’s go out with a little bit of dignity,” Sokka said quietly.

 

“Give ‘em hell and go down fighting?” Toph grinned, and if Sokka saw nothing else in the short remainder of his life that would be enough. He kissed her again, right on the mouth.

 

“Love you.”

 

“Love you, too.”

 

The walls came down.


End file.
